


This weakness and brokenness.

by Kaesteranya



Series: Like Two Sides of the Same Coin [4]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-04
Updated: 2011-02-04
Packaged: 2017-10-15 09:30:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/159424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaesteranya/pseuds/Kaesteranya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And there's nothing left to keep you warm.</p>
            </blockquote>





	This weakness and brokenness.

**Author's Note:**

> The title is taken from the 31 Days theme for November 30, 2009.

It had been a long time since the last one. Back then, during the first few years after the Ishaval Conflict, the nightmares had jealously filled every hour that he dared devote to resting — the memories of every battlefield and all men, friend and foe, lost beneath the sands had considered themselves too sacred to be shunted aside, and thus they had ruled supreme over his evenings. That was, until the time when he learned the virtues of women and overworking. A healthy balance of the two often left him too exhausted to deal with things, and the nightmares did not favor a man capable of ignoring any sort of ailment within him until his own body set itself aflame to purge it.

 

There had been only one person who could read through the lies, sneak past the mind traps, think four steps ahead of his game, watch every little gesture made or hear each slight inflection of speech and then know him as one knew the way one’s life was mapped out at the center of a palm. But taking several gunshots to the most vital parts of your body and being buried six feet under from the surface of the world could change such things.

 

Roy Mustang rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling of his room, a place that suddenly felt strange to him. It was a cold night but it never occurred to him to put some fire in the oil lamp by his bed. The flames were disgusted with him, he figured. They must have been because he was starting to get sick of himself.

 

Hughes would have told him to smoke to stay warm, but Hughes was no longer there.


End file.
